We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Megan Brians a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Megan, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
One of the essential practices that helped me in my healing journey was being witnessed with compassionate and unconditional presence to my own personhood: in my thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations. Coming from a long-held state of freeze in my nervous system, disassociation from my body and void of knowing who I was, I connected with the wisdom of my own body and intuition, gained the ability to discern what served me well and what didn’t, and take action that was in alignment with my personhood. It is this empowerment that I in turn want to offer to all of the people with whom I work. We all deserve to live our lives fully supported and it is my desire to be part of that support.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
What I love about my work is the creative process of discovering what uniquely gives support, ease, strength and resiliency to each and every person so that they can live their lives with more facility, richness and enjoyment. In both Inner Wisdom Tarot and Somatic and Spiritual Bodywork, I support a person’s learning and integration of their unique medicine that helps them come more wholly into their own beautiful personhood, and to live their life more fully and satisfyingly.
My work is always about co-discovery with a person. For instance, I have a strong intuitive channel, but rather than delivering a decree from on high, I will relay messages or impressions as offerings. Then I encourage the person to notice how it lands for them: is it meaningful, does it sound true, how does their body respond? They have complete freedom to incorporate any information into their lives that makes sense to them.
Another thing that is important to my work is listening for peoples’ resources as they emerge organically in conversation. I am listening to what helps them become more settled, relaxed, or positively energized. I then highlight those resources to the person so that their nervous system can experience a positive bump of good feeling and increased capacity.
In Somatic and Spiritual Bodywork, I am listening both to what the person is saying and with my hands to what is happening in their nervous system via the tone in their tissues. I can then relay to the person what I am noticing: what is relaxing, or what is tightening and guarding in response to the content of their sharing. In this way I can help educate the person to know how their experiences and thoughts affect their body and nervous system.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Firstly, how to listen! I listen in several ways: to the words and musicality of speech from my clients (what feels important, something worth returning to? what is their nervous system and/or psyche conveying?); to their tissue (does it tighten? does it relax? does it heat up? does it shut down?), and to a person’s overall energy field or atmosphere.
Secondly, learning how to be embodied, grounded and present. Because I am often firmly rooted and centered in myself and present in my attention, I convey a feeling of safety in holding space for a person’s vulnerability.
Thirdly, cultivating accurate attunement and response in dialogue. It is when a person feels heard, seen, and known that they can unfold and flower fully. This kind of presence and welcome to their personhood was often either missing or limited in their childhood.
My advice: hang out with super skilled somatic folks, take a Non-Violent Communication Course, participate in embodiment inquiry workshops or classes, and seek nervous system regulating practices.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Susan Harper, teacher of perceptual and movement inquiry, has been absolutely instrumental in the art of presencing, perceptual embodiment and listening skills. She is a treasure.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bodyandbeinghealing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bodyandbeinghealing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61554546420837
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-brians/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw9pq8DhKHb_pBfQvHUP1rw
Image Credits
Kira Seto
